


For his own good

by dreamerinheaven



Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Athos is bad at feelings, Canon Timeline, D'artagnan/Constance endgame, F/M, How Do I Tag, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Porthos is a good bro, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-28 05:05:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11410812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamerinheaven/pseuds/dreamerinheaven
Summary: He hesitated, before he leaned in closer to his friend to make sure that nobody but him would hear his words. “He is happy, Porthos.”, he said quietly, “He's engaged to someone who is smart, brave, beautiful and strong and I'm not going to ruin that. Think of me what you must, but I don't intend to be that selfish.”or: Athos and Porthos have a heart to heart during the celebration of d'Artagnan's engagement to Constance.





	For his own good

“You know you brought this on yourself, right?”  
Athos didn't even bother to give Porthos an answer. Without taking his eyes off of d'Artagnan and Constance, he took another swig from his wine.  
He felt his friend taking the seat next to him more than he saw it, but he still didn't look up, his eyes still firmly on d'Artagnans face, memorizing the way his eyes lit up when he smiled, even in this dark and gloomy tavern, how he had actually learned to hold his liquor since he came to Paris, how his slender fingers curled around Concances hand, now that they were engaged and he was actually allowed to do that -  
He heard Porthos sight. “I mean it, Athos. One word and he'd-”  
“It doesn't matter.” His interruption was sharp and he finally turned around to look at his friend, “What you're implying is - “ He interrupted himself and lowered his voice, even though nobody was listening to them anyway, “It's not only stupid and untrue, it's _dangerous_.”  
Porthos just gave him a rather unimpressed look before snagging his glas away from him. “You are being too hard on yourself, old friend. And you are going to listen to me now.” He leaned a little bit closer to him and lowered his voice to a whisper, while speaking deliberately slow. “He is not _her_. What happened was never and will never be your fault. I know you don't think as highly of yourself as you should, to put it mildly. But d'Artagnan – d'Artagnan adores you. He always has and don't even try to pretend like you are nor aware of the fact, that one word from you would be enough for him to turn around and choose you in a heartbeat.”  
Something in his chest tightened painfully. Of course he knew. It was kind of hard to miss when the man who so quickly turned into his best friend looked at him like he hung the moon.  
He hesitated, before he leaned in closer to his friend to make sure that nobody but him would hear his words. “He is happy, Porthos.”, he said quietly, “He's engaged to someone who is smart, brave, beautiful and strong and I'm not going to ruin that. Think of me what you must, but I don't intend to be that selfish.”  
Porthos huffed. “It's not selfish to want something for yourself, Athos. Especially not in your case. Lord knows you would deserve some happiness. And don't even try to pretend that this doesn't hurt you, because I know it does.”  
A small smile graced his face for a moment, but it didn't reach his eyes. “I know what you're doing and I appreciate the sentiment, but I already made up my mind.” He looked up to meet Porthos' eyes. “And as my friend I'm asking you to never mention this conversation to anybody, not to Aramis and especially not to d'Artagnan.”  
Porthos shook his head, disapproval clear on his face. “Ignoring his feelings won't make him love you any less, you know? Our d'Artagnan has a smart head on his shoulders, he wouldn't give his affection to someone unworthy and if you could escape your own dark thoughts just for a moment to think about what _he_ wants instead of what _you think_ is the best for him you would realize this, too.”  
Athos opened his mouth, but before he could say something (even though he didn't really knew what he wanted to say in the first place) he got interrupted when Aramis sat down next to Porthos and shot both of them an easy grin. “What is it with the two of you tonight? We are here to celebrate, and yes, that includes you too.” As if to underline his words he gave both of them a cup of wine. “A toast!”, he proclaimed and stood up, the grin just wide enough to let his friends know that, while he was genuinely happy for d'Artagnan and Constance, his heart was with the one woman he wanted and could never have.  
“To d'Artagnan and his beautiful bride!” Athos raised his cup, ignored Porthos eyes on him, and repeated his friends words with a small smile on his lips. When he looked up again his eyes met d'Artagnans across the room and he gave him a slight nod. This was how things were meant to be. d'Artagnan loved Constance and whatever infatuation he had with him would fade over time while his love for Constance would grow stronger with each passing day.  
d'Artagnan would be happy and safe and that was what mattered the most to Athos.

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you enjoyed this despite being quite short and despite the gloomy end, personally i love the idea of them having feelings for eachother but not acting upon them for different reasons. [not Beta-read, so sorry for any mistakes english is not my first lagnuage]


End file.
